We've seen Avowed!

 Were we wowed?

Given the all-covering shadow of a gameplay dive as robust as Starfield's, it's quite easy to forget literally everything else shown off around it even when some of those other projects were the type we'd been waiting literally years to see. As much as 'adventures in space' might be our call to action, the RPG lovers who have dwelled with Bethesda all these years harbour still their crushes for that fantasy halcyon paradise- mythical adventure through mystical environments, reality bending or simply just face scorching arcane spells and grand world-defining epic narratives where the fate of all the world is at stake. We ain't gonna get that from Bethesda this year, which is why it's so very nice that Obsidian have stepped up to the plate to feed our empty bellies with the dropping of Avow- oh wait, it's not this year? They haven't given a release date at all? Seriously? Oh... okay then I guess I might as well go sell an organ and get Final Fantasy XVI then. Still, at least we got to see Avowed.

A single player action RPG to fill the void left behind in the universe once Bethesda finally leaves the well flogged horse called 'Skyrim' to fester in the valley- the title pushed to and beyond it's limits. RPG enthusiasts like myself still remember that hot flush of excitement for that Avowed reveal trailer all that time ago- not just for the promise of beautiful first person magical fantasy adventure but the idea of it bringing the increadibly rich and vast world of 'Pillars of Eternity' to a new sub-genre of RPG. Anyone who had the joy to play through the Pillars games knows that a world that deep rarely has the chance to be depicted to any main-stream-appeal style of game- there's just too much needed to process. Pillars is a fantastic fantasy world rife with increadibly interesting living deities, heady and complex world factions swathed in vast weaves of political drama and a fascinating unique grasp on the nature of the world's reality and the magic that lives within. Pillars' universe alone carries a promise of quality with it.

Which is probably why I still find myself enthused with the prospect of Avowed even after that gameplay trailer tease we saw seemed to do it's utmost best not to leap-frog off the excitement of that initial announcement. Of course I fully understand that the unabashed expectations of the community do own some blame here- the original visually popping CGI demonstration, whilst not visually impressive enough to definitely imply it would be unrepresentative of the final product, was still obviously not gameplay at the time. Still, it built a mood and spoke a visual language that this real-life gameplay reveal just doesn't. Avowed looked like Obsidian's very first AAA video game under the guidance and resources of Xbox, now it looks like another decent quality AA title that's going to impress but maybe not print that lasting impression we know this company is capable of when they're given the time. I wanted another New Vegas out of Obsidian, but it seems we're getting another 'Outer Worlds' instead. And 'The Outer Worlds 2' as well- I guess we're getting both.

It's not just that the visuals aren't what the original trailer promised, to be honest when I saw that original trailer I wasn't all that impressed with the way it did not resemble the lavish oil-like frescoes which make up the isometric game's backdrop. I think Pillars looks gorgeous, even as it depicts one of the grubbiest and most visually-dull fantasy worlds ever imagined, and Pillars 2 looks practically jaw-dropping in it's most lavish sections. But Avowed doesn't even match up to Pillars. Whereas Pillar's visual style was smooth and weaving, blurring colours and effluent light in an almost dream-like pulse and mix- Avowed seems static and jarringly popping- like a increadibly thin-lined cell shaded game. Honestly, along with the lacklustre facial animations and impact-lacking melee combat we saw glimpses of- it doesn't look all that appealing.

And then there's the simply bizarre fact that for some reason Obsidian seemed to have gone out of their way to make Avowed's trailer sound as generic as humanely possible. The narration started it out by talking about investigating a 'plague', literally the most overdone beginning plotline of any fantasy game ever (Warcraft 3, WOW, Wasteland 2, Neverwinter- the list goes on) and then moved onto some impressively vague affirmations of power. 'You're so powerful!' 'You're either here to save us or kill us!' 'We're all super scared of you!'. Its sounds like the ultra common guff of any RPG game which goes no length to demonstrating the amazing pantheon of personalities, the sprawling geopolitical state of the world- or even show off some of the more interesting DnD style spells. I mean sure, lifting a bunch of people into the air is real interesting to folk that haven't played Pillars and don't know about calling down bolts of light from the heavens or erecting giants Wall of Many Colours'. Is that higher level mage stuff even going to make it into the final game?

But of course I haven't lost my spark of excitement for the game, but now it's driven by what I know of the source material rather than for the marketing Obsidian has provided. I know how great of a universe this can be and how brilliant a title an immersive open world title could be in this world... even if my hope in the ambition of this game is slightly diminished. In a naïve sense I hoped that with the backing of Xbox this was going to be Obsidian's tighter and more to-the-point answer to Skyrim, but according to the team themselves it's going to be more like their other games. Isolated play spaces that we travel between on little problem solving gallivants. Which isn't all bad, I endeavour to clarify, but it's not quite the 'open world' we hoped for. 

Avowed is still going on the list of games to watch, but I fully admit this wasn't the best showing of the game and fully understand the freshly blossomed doubtsince the gameplay reveal. At the very least they were by no means the most underwhelming of the year, nor the most talked about- Which I guess brings this to a question of 'which is worse': to be mocked or to be ignored. I want Obsidian to be the best they can be and stretch out their capabilities, and maybe in that regard it's for the best they save off their best until they get the rights Fallout New Vegas 2: then they can really spread their creative wings once again. Until then Avowed seems to be another stepping stone on the road to what Obsidian was destined to become- the successors of the Western RPG.